Victoria's top cop stops impaired driver

Aug 02 2012

Victoria's police chief stopped an impaired driver Wednesday afternoon, the third time in two years he has played the role of traffic cop.

Chief Jamie Graham said he was driving down Douglas Street about 1: 15 p.m. when he heard a report about a possible impaired driver on Carroll Street, off Gorge Road East.

As Graham approached, a woman with her family in her car pointed out a red Ford pickup truck that had been backed into a driveway in the 3000 block of Carroll Street.

Graham called a sergeant, who gave the pickup driver two roadside breath tests, both of which he failed. The man was issued an immediate roadside prohibition, which means he will be barred from driving for 90 days, have his car impounded for 30 days and face thousands of dollars in fees.

The driver's landlord, John Hircock, said he had called the man to retrieve his things out of a recently vacated house. "He was slurring his words and I said, 'Are you sober?' and he said, 'Yes.' "

Graham joked with one man at the scene that "we brought out the big boss."